Let's Pretend Today Too Isn't A Dream
by Quiet Harmony-chan
Summary: Dreams are reflections of our hopes and wishes, yet sometimes they force us to accept things about ourselves we rather ignore. When Rinnie is brought to Wonderland as an order from the Queen of Hearts, she begins to unravel her sickened mind and must learn to accept certain parts of herself, even if they are deadly.


**A/N: A psychological story, because there's never enough of them for this fandom even though the source material is loaded with it.**

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Gripping the clasp of her cloak, the girl passed through the busy streets of the village. Her eyes darted around as children ran about the streets chasing stray dogs, women chattered by the well, and old people sat on porches and watched the young ones. It was an altogether homey scene and would have put most people at ease if it wasn't for the fact that the sun was beginning to set. With the sun bleeding away so did the warmth and happiness of the village, only pushing the girl to move faster.

Going past small huts made of stone and shoddy, wooden fences she finally made it to the gates of the village. Taking a deep breath she slipped a hand into her dress pocket and took out three round coins that were a burnished gold. Engraved on them was the image of a woman who held olive branches in her arms. It was a rather hefty price just to get through the gate, but seeing as how she had no gate pass bribery would have to work. Going to the massive opening she ducked her head somewhat as she neared the guard. He was a stocky man who wore silver armor and had an air of arrogance about him that set the girl on edge.

"I need your pass, missy." He held out a gloved hand expectantly, just to form a fist when she placed a coin in it. "Thank you, miss."

The girl didn't answer as she quickly left the guard post and made her way onto the main road. It was little different to any other one around this area, the road was mostly of dirt and had weeds growing on the sides. During the rainy months the whole area would be muddy and impossible to get past on a wagon, the wheels would get stuck and eventually crack from the stress. For humans it could be a trap, their feet and boots getting stuck in the mud and left behind to be eaten by wild beasts when night came.

Looking back at the village she realized that it was still looming behind, threatening to reach out and grab her, but there was no way the guards would be able to see her from this distance. Making a turn into the weeds she hissed as twigs and rocks pressed into her feet, cutting the tender appendages as she carefully walked down the edge of the hill. It was just moment before the sun would go down, the sky was a brilliant shade of purple that would be black within moments. No longer caring about caution she ran down the hill, her hood falling away to reveal a pale face that set in grim determination.

Her heart slammed against her ribs and her lungs burned as they fought to breathe. Every thought in her mind focused on getting to the bottom of the hill and even the strain in her legs wouldn't stop her. Just ahead in the dim light she could see it, a large stone set beside a running creek. She yelped and a smile tugged on her face as she came closer and closer, just to see the thing moving further away from her. Confusion flooded her system and she let out a strangled cry of anger. Running as fast as she could she tried to keep up with it, just for it to always stay a few steps ahead.

"What's going on?!"

"Follow me!"

The words sounded oddly male and as she stared at the stone it slowly began to shrink and brighten until it was a white rabbit shape. The pitch black world was still dark, but she no longer felt foliage and sticks, instead she felt something smooth and cool. Stopping in her tracks she looked down and jumped backwards as she saw a bright red playing card that displayed the three of hearts. It was a large as a cow and could hold four people on it, all of them sitting comfortably. Peering over the side she saw infinite darkness that quietly called out to her, beckoning her to make a leap of faith. A shudder ran down her spine and words came to her mouth, but silenced them as the card under her began to wobble, as if whatever was keeping it afloat was cut.

"Follow me!" The girl looked back to the rabbit, who had stopped to look behind him, his tiny nose in the air as if searching for her in the darkness. Running after it again she continued her journey, trying her best to keep up with the small animal. Soon the darkness began to part away and a warm light fell around them. The light slowly became brighter and brighter until it was like a silver snake that led them to the end of this card trail. Standing beside a gorgeous door that was a pure white with gold etching on it. Next to the door was a man who's looks would have considered handsome if it had not been for the cold look in his red eyes. The two stood in silent for several moments as if waiting for some kind of signal to engage in something. As if it had been given the man opened the doo shedding her in the warm light. The girl flinched and covered her eyes with one hand and slowly stepped forward, just to lose her footing and fall.

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_**Let's Pretend Today too**_

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Falling is initially a terrifying thing. You have no idea where you'll end up, how much it will hurt, or if you will even survive. Your heart thrumms against you chest and your mouth goes dry just thinking about the many possible outcomes from this experience, yet if it goes on for too long you become desensitized.

This was the case with the girl.

After ten minutes of constant falling she no longer felt terrified and instead felt almost lethargic. In fact the tired feeling was so lulling she somewhat wondered if she was really asleep and that running across the card trail and falling was all a dream and that she would be woken up soon.

_"Does it really matter which one it is?"_

Her eyes opened a little more at the voice's words. She was about to look to the man for an explanation, but stopped when she saw a light below her. The light slowly began to grow from a small sparkle at the end of a dark tunnel to a lovely blaze that mocked the very sun. The cool wind soon died away to be replaced by warm caresses and before she knew it the white concrete of the ground was looking up at her. The girl shrieked and looked over to the man who looked indifferent.

"You'll end up killing us!" She said, eyes shutting as she braced for impact. Ignoring the man who ignored her in favor of maneuvering so his legs were facing the ground instead of his stomach.

After several moment she felt her heart jolt as she stopped falling. Her body retained a normal feeling and her hands brushed something warm and hard. Opening one eye she saw the white ground, upon opening the other she saw that she was kneeling on the ground on all fours. "H-How-?"

"Wonderland wouldn't allow a foreigner to die so quickly." The man stated, striding over to her with a cold expression on his face. "And even if it did I made Alice a promise."

The girl's thin eyebrows furrowed and she slowly got up, her legs aching as she did so."Wonderland, what is that? And how did you stop the fall so that we wouldn't die?" Her brain began to numb as she tried to make sense of the situation.

"I used my abilities as the White Rabbit." He stated. "As for what Wonderland is, it's a place which you will have the pleasure to explore as soon as you leave my presence."

The girl looked away from the man and looked around her, suddenly becoming aware of her surroundings. She quickly realized that they were standing on an elevated structure due to the wind and the fact that everything looked so small and far down. The area around it was large and every square inch of area was filled with some shade of green. Whether it was the dark green of pine trees or the pale green of the grass, this 'Wonderland' was filled to the brim with foliage.

She yelped as a hand grabbed her shoulder and span her around, red eyes staring at her in dislike. "Take this."

She gagged as a cold and sour liquid went down her throat and fingers pinched her nose. It tasted like milk that had been left out on the window sill for much too long, yet when it was all the way down a sweet aftertaste took over her senses. This taste of apple dusted with brown sugar and cinnamon danced across her taste buds and made her lick her lips as she tried to keep the taste in her mouth.

The man took his hands off of her and pushed her away, using a handkerchief to clean his gloved hands as if she had coughed on him. "Why did you give me that?"

The man wrung the bit of cloth in his hands. "That was the medicine of Clover." He said dismissively. "Now please go and die so that you will disappear."

"Huh?!"

He glanced over at her from the corner of his eye. "I asked you to die, by bringing you here I only made to fulfill Queen Vivaldi's wish, but in all honesty it was a great annoyance to me." He pocketed his handkerchief and turned to look her square in the eye. "The fact that I brought you should be good enough, perhaps I should just shoot you and say you died by accident."

_"Rinnie, run into the tower!"_

She didn't move as Peter pulled out his gun, aiming it straight at her head. Her brain felt numb and everything around her was warm. She wanted to move, she really did, but it felt as if she did then she would fall apart.

The White Rabbit smirked and placed a finger on the trigger. "Good bye, Foreigner."

_**BANG!**_

**A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this story! I know her name didn't come up until the end, and Rinnie's personality really didn't show too much, but I wanted to show that she was fear driven in the village yet was almost in a "drugged" state when she was going to Wonderland. I'll have some character development later on though, no worries! **


End file.
